A slate of new board members for the California Thoroughbred Trainers is set to take over next week following a special election demanded by members who are unhappy with the state of racing and the organization's direction.

Backtracking on a rule amendment that one observer said "would fundamentally change the claiming game," the California Horse Racing Board tabled a proposal that would have voided a claim if the horse that was bought, due to injury or distress, was unable to return to the designated unsaddling area after the finish of the race.

California horsemen and Hollywood Park reached a tentative agreement Oct. 10 that allows the track to operate its 40-day autumn race meet, but a stalemate over host fees to be paid by account wagering companies for interstate bets remains unresolved.

Requiring safety reins, a move strongly endorsed by the Jockeys' Guild, will be the subject of a public hearing to be held by the California Horse Racing Board during its regular monthly meeting at Fairplex Park on Sept. 18.

Hoping to revitalize its Cushion Track racing surface following the 60-day spring/summer meet that concludes July 13, Hollywood Park plans to close its main track to training in the next few weeks for a short maintenance break.

Six years after a state law was passed extending full rights to horse-owning trainers and their spouses in the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the organization is scrambling to rectify an apparent exclusion sent out as part of the current board of directors election ballot.

A liquid binder officials believe will save Santa Anita Park's Cushion Track should take about 10 days to acquire and another four to mix with the synthetic racing surface, the California Horse Racing Board was told Jan. 16.

Given reasonable assurance that Bay Meadows would remain open throughout 2008 for training and stabling, the California Horse Racing Board approved a statewide dates plan for the coming year during its Sept. 27 meeting in Arcadia.

Owners -- along with their trainers -- whose horses have repeated medication violations are subject to tough new penalties under changes given final approval by the California Horse Racing Board April 19.

Only about 12% of horses tested for clenbuterol had measurable levels of the medication in 193 blood samples taken recently, according to Dr. Rick Arthur's report Thursday to the California Horse Racing Board medication committee.

The head of California's trainer association labeled "ridiculous" a Jockeys' Guild petition seeking payment on a rider's behalf from a trainer whose winning horse was later disqualified because of a positive drug test.

The California Horse Racing Board, under fire for its drug enforcement policies, would dramatically change penalties for many violations and repeat offenses under recommendations passed on to the full commission by its medication committee Jan. 9.

Executives with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have taken a first step toward installing Polytrack at the popular seaside racetrack when they made a presentation to the 22nd District Agricultural Association during its board meeting Jan. 10.

Executives with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have taken a first step toward installing Polytrack at the popular seaside racetrack when they made a presentation to the 22nd District Agricultural Association during its board meeting Jan. 10.

How much weight does a horse actually carry in a race? No matter what the program says, nobody seems to know for sure. The California Horse Racing Board hopes an ad hoc committee can help revamp pre-race weigh-in practices.

While steroid use by human athletes has caused a firestorm of controversy, trainers in California are being warned to avoid using anabolic steroids on their horses because of increased testing and uncertainty about withdrawal times. But the director of the state's drug-testing laboratory said the concern is misplaced.

All horses trained by Mike Mitchell will undergo 24 hour surveillance before racing after one of his horses tested positive for an excessive amount of TC02, which is the total carbon dioxide in plasma from a blood sample obtained pre-race.

Calling Churchill Downs' recent sale of Hollywood Park a "shot across the bow," California state Senator Dean Florez heard industry leaders plea for help in racing's struggle for survival in the Golden State.

After meeting with state racing industry executives, the national Jockeys' Guild has amended California legislation originally designed to establish heavier minimum riding weights in favor of setting parameters for a national peer review study of jockey health issues.

Officials maintained a taut no-comment stance on reports that Churchill Downs Inc. is close to a deal with the owner of Bay Meadows for the sale of Hollywood Park, but a spokesman for California's major trainers' organization expressed comfort in the news.

The California Horse Racing Board should hold off on changing the jockey scale of weights until a national effort can institute uniform standards across the country, racing representatives told the board during its meeting July 22 at the Del Mar simulcast facilty.

California racing officials are hopeful that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign legislation this week that would increase the takeout on exotic wagers by a half of a percentage point to help offset rising workers' compensation insurance premiums.

Southern California-based trainers will ask the California Horse Racing Board to establish a detention barn for "in-today" horses. For the past month, trainers have circulated a petition for the detention barn, which supporters say is needed to combat an uneven playing field caused by horsemen who are allegedly using illegal and untested-for medications to enhance the performance of their horses.

Partisan wrangling in the California State Assembly on the final day of the 2003 legislative session kept an urgency bill mandating a 0.5% increase in the exotic wagering take-out from gaining final approval Sept. 12. It will likely return for consideration in January.

It was only a single day on the proposed 271-day Thoroughbred racing circuit in Southern California in 2004. But for representatives of the state's owners and trainers appearing Thursday before the California Horse Racing Board, it was meaningful.

A group of nearly 50 Southern California-based Thoroughbred trainers met at Hollywood Park Tuesday to discuss the specifics of their new workers' compensation policies, one day after all trainers were required to renew with either the state-run State Fund insurance program or insurance giant American Insurance Group.

Financially strapped California Thoroughbred trainers will be able to borrow money to help them make their initial workers' compensation insurance payments due on July 1 under a plan approved by state racingassociations.

California racing has "definitely turned a corner" on the workers' compensation insurance crisis, the leader of the state's trainer association said, but a reduction in premiums is at least a year away.

The idea of an industry-owned insurance company was floated during a major meeting on issues such as workers' compensation. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Jockeys' Guild called on the industry for financial support to alleviate a "crisis."

California horsemen remain on the verge of finalizing a deal for lower workers' compensation insurance rates, but the program is unlikely to launch by the projected Nov. 15 starting date, the head of the state's trainer organization said Nov. 11.